Ahavat Hanes

"אהבת
הנס"

The גמרא
in שבת פח. says that at the time of מתן תורה,
ד' forced כלל
ישראל into accepting the Torah. The גמרא
describes how ד' suspended הר סיני over the Jews"כפה עליהם הר
כגיגית" and threatened them with
destruction if they wouldn’t accept the תורה. The גמרא
there goes on to say that in the aftermath of the events of פורים,
the Jews voluntarily accepted the תורה. The גמרא
derives this from the double language of the words in מגילת אסתר-
“קימו וקבלו” i.e. they “ratified and accepted on
themselves.” רש"י on the גמרא
explains that כלל ישראל did this "מאהבת הנס".

There are two questions regarding
רש"י’s explanation:

1) Why was "אהבה" specifically the
factor that caused the Jews to accept the תורה?

2) To the extent that "אהבה"
was what was needed, why was it דוקא the נס of פורים that engendered this "אהבה"
and not any of the many previous ניסים that כלל
ישראל experienced?

So it comes out that "אהבה" was the missing ingredient that was needed to
overcome כלל ישראל’s unwillingness to accept תורה
שבעל פה due to the difficulty of learning it. At the time of matan
torah, this level of אהבה was lacking in כלל ישראל. However on Purim, things changed. This is
what רש"י means when he tells us that on פורים the component of אהבת ד' was present in sufficient strength to cause קימו וקבלו, i.e. to motivate כלל ישראל
to voluntarily accept תורה שבעל פה despite the hardship involved in studying
it.

Having explained why "אהבה"
was the element that was needed to bring about a קבלה ברצון
of תורה on פורים, we need now to answer the second question
-what specifically about נס פורים generated this intense אהבת ד'?

To answer this, we need to know
the יסוד of the פלא יועץ. He explains that on פורים,
Hashem showed "חיבה יתירה" to כלל ישראל. How so? The גמרא in מגילה tells us that המן’s
גזירה against the Jews was a result of the Jews
participating in אחשורוש’s סעודה. The פלא יועץ
points out that at the time of אחשורוש’s סעודה,
while כלל ישראל were in the midst of sinning
against ד'- so badly that they deserved to be wiped out for it- what was ד' doing? Concurrent with His anger at כלל ישראל’s
חטא, ד' was manipulating events so that He could SAVE כלל
ישראל from the consequence of the very חטא
that they were in the middle of committing. ד'
was arranging for אחשורוש to get drunk, to ask for ושתי to come in front of him and his men, haveושתי refuse to come, and
for אחשורוש to then decide to kill her. All this was
to enable אסתר to come in and save the Jews.

The fact that ד'
was arranging to save us, at the very time that we were sinning, before
תשובה and during שעת חרון אף,
was a tremendous expression of אהבה that ד' has for כלל ישראל. The natural response was for כלל ישראל, upon realizing this had happened, to be
filled, reciprocally, with אהבה for ד'. This surge of אהבת ד' was the missing link needed for the Jews
to reach the point of "אוהב את הקב"ה בכל ליבו" (as the מדרש above referred to it) and thereby voluntarily accept תורה שבעל פה, despite its difficulty.

Published

March 8, 2018

Rabbi Sungolowsky

"אהבת
הנס"

The גמרא
in שבת פח. says that at the time of מתן תורה,
ד' forced כלל
ישראל into accepting the Torah. The גמרא
describes how ד' suspended הר סיני over the Jews"כפה עליהם הר
כגיגית" and threatened them with
destruction if they wouldn’t accept the תורה. The גמרא
there goes on to say that in the aftermath of the events of פורים,
the Jews voluntarily accepted the תורה. The גמרא
derives this from the double language of the words in מגילת אסתר-
“קימו וקבלו” i.e. they “ratified and accepted on
themselves.” רש"י on the גמרא
explains that כלל ישראל did this "מאהבת הנס".

There are two questions regarding
רש"י’s explanation:

1) Why was "אהבה" specifically the
factor that caused the Jews to accept the תורה?

2) To the extent that "אהבה"
was what was needed, why was it דוקא the נס of פורים that engendered this "אהבה"
and not any of the many previous ניסים that כלל
ישראל experienced?

So it comes out that "אהבה" was the missing ingredient that was needed to
overcome כלל ישראל’s unwillingness to accept תורה
שבעל פה due to the difficulty of learning it. At the time of matan
torah, this level of אהבה was lacking in כלל ישראל. However on Purim, things changed. This is
what רש"י means when he tells us that on פורים the component of אהבת ד' was present in sufficient strength to cause קימו וקבלו, i.e. to motivate כלל ישראל
to voluntarily accept תורה שבעל פה despite the hardship involved in studying
it.

Having explained why "אהבה"
was the element that was needed to bring about a קבלה ברצון
of תורה on פורים, we need now to answer the second question
-what specifically about נס פורים generated this intense אהבת ד'?

To answer this, we need to know
the יסוד of the פלא יועץ. He explains that on פורים,
Hashem showed "חיבה יתירה" to כלל ישראל. How so? The גמרא in מגילה tells us that המן’s
גזירה against the Jews was a result of the Jews
participating in אחשורוש’s סעודה. The פלא יועץ
points out that at the time of אחשורוש’s סעודה,
while כלל ישראל were in the midst of sinning
against ד'- so badly that they deserved to be wiped out for it- what was ד' doing? Concurrent with His anger at כלל ישראל’s
חטא, ד' was manipulating events so that He could SAVE כלל
ישראל from the consequence of the very חטא
that they were in the middle of committing. ד'
was arranging for אחשורוש to get drunk, to ask for ושתי to come in front of him and his men, haveושתי refuse to come, and
for אחשורוש to then decide to kill her. All this was
to enable אסתר to come in and save the Jews.

The fact that ד'
was arranging to save us, at the very time that we were sinning, before
תשובה and during שעת חרון אף,
was a tremendous expression of אהבה that ד' has for כלל ישראל. The natural response was for כלל ישראל, upon realizing this had happened, to be
filled, reciprocally, with אהבה for ד'. This surge of אהבת ד' was the missing link needed for the Jews
to reach the point of "אוהב את הקב"ה בכל ליבו" (as the מדרש above referred to it) and thereby voluntarily accept תורה שבעל פה, despite its difficulty.